Fast and Furious

Documents Released Less Than Two Weeks After DOJ Head Eric Holder Announces Resignation

After years of refusing to share Operation Fast and Furious information – even in the face of House Oversight Committee demands, a lawsuit in federal court, and contempt charges – the Justice Department released more than 64,000 pages of documents related to the botched gun running operation. The move, according to the Committee’s statement, is effectively an admission that the Justice Department never had legitimate grounds to withhold these documents in the first place.

Even given the massive scope of the documents handed over, they still only partially meets the committee’s information request. “When Eric Holder wants to know why he was the first Attorney General held in criminal contempt of Congress, he can read the judge’s order that compelled the production of 64,280 pages that he and President Obama illegitimately and illegally withheld from Congress,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the committee on House Oversight and Government Reform. “Since these pages still do not represent the entire universe of the documents the House of Representatives is seeking related to the Justice Department’s cover-up of the botched gun-walking scandal that contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent, our court case will continue.” Continue reading →

Fast & Furious is in the news again. The Obama Administration this week filed court papers to get the lawsuit filed by the House of Representatives against Attorney General Eric Holder thrown out.

The House lawsuit asks the court to reject a claim of executive privilege by the President, who sealed thousands of documents relating to Fast & Furious, a Justice Department operation that facilitated the smuggling of thousands of U.S. weapons south of the border.

The administration calls the House lawsuit a mere “political dispute” between the branches of government. But this is much more than a political dispute. People died as a result of Fast Furious, which makes it much worse than even Watergate where no one died. Fast & Furious has led to the deaths of more than 200 Mexicans and at least one U.S. federal agent.

The United States Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General has released, at long last, their report on the “Fast and Furious” Mexican gun walking scandal. Inspector General Michael Horowitz is set to testify on the report at 9:30AM on September 20.

Issa to DOJ: Make Us an Offer

June 13, 2012
Comittee on Oversight & Government Reform

WASHINGTON – Today, Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to submit a proposal for how he intends to comply with the Committee’s subpoena in an effort to facilitate an agreement rendering the process of contempt unnecessary. The letter notes that the Oversight Committee, in order to accommodate a solution, has twice significantly narrowed the focus of documents it requires, but the Justice Department has neither accepted this offer nor made a counterproposal.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, June 20, 2012, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will convene to consider a report holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to produce documents specified in the Committee’s October 12, 2011, subpoena. Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa issued the following statement on the scheduling of a Committee vote on contempt:

“For over a year and a half, the House Oversight Committee, with Senator Chuck Grassley, has conducted a joint investigation of reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious. With the support of House leadership, the Republican Conference, and even some Democratic Members who have expressed concern to the White House over the Justice Department’s failure to cooperate, this investigation has yielded significant results. The Attorney General has acknowledged that the operation was fundamentally flawed and he has committed to take steps to ensure that it does not occur again. Evidence found in applications for wiretaps shows that although senior officials were given information about reckless tactics, they still signed affirmations that they had reviewed the investigation and determined that electronic surveillance of phones was necessary.Continue reading →